Saturday, April 9, 2016

It has been two days since the highly anticipated trailer of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story was officially released by Lucasfilm and Disney. One of the segments from the trailer that has got fans talking is the scene which can be seen in the above image. The central question asked by fans has been: who is the hooded and cloaked figure who appears in this scene? Is it Maul or Ezra? A young Snoke or another inquisitor?

It is almost undeniable that the cloaked character is a 'villanous' one. That can be corroborated by the fact the colours of the environment and the character are both black and red. One can assume that this location is based on the Death Star, or on an Imperial Star Destroyer. In addition, the inclusion of the red Royal Imperial Guards is striking. In the canon universe, the Royal guards have only ever appeared in the presence of Palpatine, in both the Prequels and Original Trilogy. The appearance of the Imperial Royal guards signifies that this scene is important and that the figure entering the room is also a significant character. There are a wide number of candidates for who the hooded figure could be. My hypothesis is that the character above is a villainous 'force user', and that forms the basis for the reason why I will critique just three possible candidates.

Palpatine

As stated in the aforementioned paragraph, the appearance of the Red Imperial Royal guards has led to speculation, from some fans, that the mysterious figure is in fact Palpatine. As Chancellor of the Republic, Palpatine was seen in the presence of his Royal militia, and the only other time we saw these guards was accompanying Palpatine on the Death Star in Return of the Jedi.

This is an interesting thesis, however, the physical appearance of the character does not seem to match the Emperor's. The height of the robed figure seems marginally taller than Emperor Palpatine. In addition, the cloak this individual wears is not so reminiscent of the style of Palpatine. Personally, I would look to discount the possibility that this figure is Palpatine.

Chance: 4/10

Grand Inquisitor

Some fans have speculated that the individual is in fact the Grand Inquisitor. The Grand Inquisitor was a title bestowed to an imperial inquisitor at the top of the hierarchical, inquisitor, pyramid. Jason Issacs played the only Grand Inquisitor, we have seen to date, on the Television Show: Star Wars Rebels. His character was killed off at the end of Season One, and since then a power struggle has emerged among the other inquisitors. These inquisitors have looked to fill the void of the Grand Inquisitors' death and assume the 'Grand Inquisitor' title themselves. None of the inquisitors have managed to succeed thus far.

As far as speculation goes, this isn't an unfeasible idea. The Grand Inquisitor was subservient to both Darth Vader and the Emperor. We see the cloaked individual bow down to a sentient in the Chamber, which certainly signifies that the character who has entered the room, is a subordinate individual. Notwithstanding this hypothesis, it seems overall to be unlikely. The central characters in this movie are Rebel soldiers, and therefore less emphasis has been attributed to force-user characters. It seems hard to imagine that this film would introduce a new force-capable character, when that is not the emphasis of this movie. In addition, we have heard rumours about the fact that James Earl Jones will be reprising his role as Darth Vader in the upcoming film, because of the importance of the mission at hand - the fact the Rebels are attempting to sequester the Death Star plans.

This idea sounds interesting, and certainly feasible in principle because it would be a nice tie-in to Rebels and if one believes Darth Vader is in the cylinder chamber, then it could be the inquisitor bowing to Lord Vader (similar to the image above). However, I have doubts about the degree to which this hooded figure will in fact be a new Inquisitor.

Chance: 5/10

Darth Vader

Wild speculation from fans has been that the hooded figure, seen in the trailer, is in fact the Sith Lord himself: Darth Vader.

Immediately fans will look to refute this speculation by pointing out that this character is not wearing the attire of the "more machine than man" Darth Vader. That is very true. However, we have seen in the films that Vader can take his mask off (as seen in the Empire Strikes Back), and no doubt can take his suit off, even if for a brief time. Vader sustained a facial injury in the fight against Ahsoka, in the Rebels S2 finale, with which a portion of his mask was cut from his face. This conveys that, in spite of the fact the suit is used to power and sustain Vader, he can survive without wearing his attire, for a brief duration of time.

In addition, as mentioned previously, the cloaked individual bows down to a sentient in the Chamber, which certainly signifies that the character is a subordinate individual. We have seen a couple of occasions where Vader has bowed down to his master, Palpatine. Moreover, the appearance of the Royal Imperial Guards could mean that Vader is communicating with the Emperor, either in person or via hologram. It would explain why the Royal Guards are present in the chamber.

Finally, we have yet to see the fallout from Star Wars: Rebels. Will Vader engage in another duel with Ashoka? Will Vader fight Maul? And if Vader does engage in a lighsaber fight, will he sustain injuries? Rebels could yet bridge the gap to Rogue One at the end of the next season. This would make particular sense, as there has been speculation that Season Three of Rebels will be the final season of the animated TV series, Rumours have also speculated that the end game in mind is the Death Star. Dave Filoni has also expressed that the Rebels' storyline will be moving closer in line with the events of A New Hope, and Rogue One.

Consequently, I believe that the hooded figure is more likely to be Darth Vader, without his suit on.

Chance: 7/10

Conclusion

To conclude this, I would like to ask people to give their own opinions on who they believe the mysterious character is. Do you agree with my conclusions? Do you think it is in fact Palpatine, or the Grand Inquisitor? Do you think its another villainous character that we have previously seen in the Saga, but not mentioned? Or do you think this is a new character?

Speculate and leave your comments below.

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32
comments:

Palpatine biws to no one esle, I think. Vader would probably appear larger in stature than he does in the shot. I think that this could be a hero who is undercover as a sith or inquistor and this is a shot if them infiltrating an area.

I agree that Palpatine is out because he wouldn't bow, though that does make the presence of the Imperial Guard curious. The character is too slight to be Vader, and I don't think it's him without his suit on; when we see him exposed in ESB, he's in a special chamber, not just out walking around. I don't think they'd show such a strong, evil character walking around vulnerable like that. I actually think it being an Inquisitor is the most likely scenario of your three options.

What really interests me is what's in front of the character, because it looks like a frozen bacta tank to me. I have my own theory, if anyone's interested: http://www.memysw.com/2016/04/rogue-one-not-just-star-wars-story.html

Maul would be cool to see again, but I can't believe he is Maul. Rogue One would be nice way to give Inquisitors a big movie introduction, but there is no Jedi to hunt. Maybe he is just some spy or bounty hunter?

If the hooded figure is indeed Palpatine then that would explain the Royal Guard, but if it isn't Palpatine (which it probably isn't) then who, or what, is in the tank has to be immensely important to him, enough that he would place his personal guard to protect it.

While I think this is a longshot, it's possible that the bowing figure is Palpatine and the figure to whom he is bowing is Supreme Leader Snoke -- on the premise that Snoke as been the one in charge from the beginning. The reason I think this is a longshot is the physicality of the bowing figure and the that I don't think the grand revelation of who Snoke is would be relegated to an anthology film as opposed to Episodes VIII or IX.

I'm more inclined to believe that it is Darth Vader. He might have a temporary partial respiratory mask on, which leads me to believe that he may have a showdown with Darth Maul at the end of season three of Rebels, resulting in damage to his mask

Darth Vader seems to be the more likely option, and it's a possible that a grand inquisitor could be present as well. I would assume that somebody from the Empire will have to die in this movie, so they most likely add a powerful character that will hit the dust as they did with Rebels.

I think it's none of the above. ... one doesn't really fit vader or emperors body frame... 2 grand inquisitor is dead at this point and inquisitors are only tasked with hunting jedi or force users (which we have been told there are none in the film). I personally bf live it's a new character.... likely mads miklesons character.

I believe Luke's hand was retrieved along with the lightsaber.. Vader retrieved it and handed it over to palpatine.. Palpatine used the hand to clone Luke Skywalker.. Which is why in ESB while in the dagobah system.. Luke saw his face in the Vader suit.. Hmm possibly a deeper and more organic image in addition to the revelation that Vader is his father ..

Snoke in the bacta tank makes sense, in that Snoke is said to have "been through a lot, and is very damaged." But who would bow down to Snoke then? Why would Palpatine or Vader bow down to someone who isn't a Sith?

I hope this isn't JJ Abrams trying to do some revisionist history in order to shoehorn a villain in to replace Palpatine for the sequels.

Vader is shown briefly without the top of his helmet in TESB, his death in ROTJ, and with a portion of his helmet removed by Ahsoka. I bet if they bring Hayden Christensen back to play Vader, they are going to show his face so that you know it's him...albeit wearing a respirator over his mouth and nose.

Ok. I'm surprised this hasn't come up yet. The cylinder in the picture isn't a Sparrti Cloning tank or hologram transmitter. It's a Bacta Tank. .. like you see Luke in in ESB.I believe the figure in the tank could be Palpatine trying to extend his life. Or it could be Vader trying to heal. The guards are there to protect whoever is in there. As to the figure bowing... Could it be Tarkin? He's suppose to be in the film.

That's from the Thrawn trilogy... its already confirmed that any books after Return of the Jedi are no longer Canon and therefore would not take place in the films. Characters might appear. But story lines would be changed.

Yup, it's a Bacta Tank... So surely the question is equally who is in the tank aside from whom is kneeling before it?

It's not Vader, the physique is wrong and Palpatine bows to no one.

I would love to see the Emperor emerge from the tank...

The Inquisitors I think by this time are out of the picture Honestly, I have no idea. I just hope that there's no retconning going on to change history. We know Snoke is alive at this point, but he was AWOL between ANH - ROTJ and I think it would feel forced if he was just shoehorned in.

Everyone keeps saying it's Palpatine bowing down. It isn't and I'll tell you why. It will leave him looking powerless in the ESB and ROTJ. The Emperor is THE bad guy in the original films other than Vader. To have him bowing to Snoke or whoever would leave him looking like a minion. It would ruin his power base and make him look weak. This would effectively ruin the original trilogy stories as the rebels try to take down this tyrant!

Snoke is for the NEW trilogy... It is very very doubtful we'll see him in this film.

The robed figure is Palpatine/Sidious, and his "bowing down" is not a simple gesture of paying respect to a superior.

In the bacta tank is Sidious' former master, Plagueis. Sidious is keeping him on the edge of life just like Plagueis kept Venamis and so many other beings. Sidious regularly visits the tank to contemplate, and talks to Plagueis (who is obviously unable to respond), both in nostalgic reverence of Plagueis' wisdom and in mockery of his fatal strategic flaw of underestimating Sidious. He treats the largely subconscious Plagueis as an equal — or more precisely, the lesser one of two peers (himself being the succesful one). There is noone else with whom he can talk on this level.

After the battle of Endor, during which Emperor Palpatine/Sidious was destroyed, the remainder of the Royal Guard transported the entire life support facility towards an unchartered world in the outer rim, a place strong in the dark side, and guarded and cultishly revered Plagueis as the last 'living' Sith Lord. At one point, Plagueis was resurrected, and he took control of several post-Imperial militias, reforming them and restyling them into the 'First Order'. He took the name 'Snoke' as an alias.

I'd like to think that it is Snoke. I'm not a fan of Snoke just being some random new character. He needs to have some sort of tie in to the previous 6 episodes. He has intimate knowledge of what happened between the emperor, Vader, and Luke on the 2nd death star. Perhaps Snoke was an inquisitor or a member of the emperors royal guard.

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